Jyo Ha - A Flower of Spring
by nyann
Summary: A fan-fic based on Fugen before he became Genshitenson’s disciple and what happened next. Adapted from the bodhisattva Fugen Botatsu’s story. mild H content included. (this is not = Yaoi.XD just to be clear)
1. Chapter 1

Yume ga oshieru …Ano michi o tayori….. Tooku kaeru wa Kono you no hate made Yume ni uchuu o Asoba se utae ba Yoru ni inochi no Namida dette koto eru  
  
++Jyo-ha . A Flower of Spring++  
  
The two peasant girls looked at the man before them with frightened eyes. Their mother stood by the side, a greedy glint in her eyes.  
  
'How much?' The woman asked curtly, her hand slapping a fly away. The man looked at the two girls appraisingly again. He took out a tattered notebook and flipped to a page, his snake-slit eyes running down the smudged scribbles. The woman tapped her foot impatiently. It was summer, and a hot summer. Her crops were not doing too well, and her eldest son, that prodigal boy, was in the city, doing 'business', as so called. The woman needed money for her youngest son. And her two girls, useless girls they were, will be sold to a well-known courtesan parlor in the city. She knew that they were jinxes. The day the eldest girl was born, it was so hot that all her maize dried. The day, the second girl was born, it rained madly, until all her wheat was drowned in the flood.  
  
The agent rubbed his unshaved chin slowly, and stared at each girl. He pocketed his book and walked to the eldest, pinching her arm and her face. The elder girl glared at him defiantly.   
  
'What's your name?'  
  
The elder girl spat at him. The woman frowned. She slapped the girl tight across her face, leaving a red mark.   
  
'She's called Kaa (Summer), the younger one's Jyo (Spring).'  
  
'That will not do. Change their names. She.' He pointed at the elder girl. 'Will be called Kaa-ha (Summer Flower), and this one will be Jyo-ha (Spring Flower)  
  
He nodded at the woman. The woman's eyes glinted, promises of money and a new plot of land arising in her mind. He looked at the second, and did the same. The younger girl winced, and tried to hide behind her sister. The agent laughed roughly.  
  
'They like them bold and shy as well.' He said, looking at the girls again. 'I will give you three gold taels.' As he spoke, he took out a bag and dumped it unceremoniously into the woman's quavering cupped hands.  
  
The woman could hardly believe her luck. Three gold taels for two jinxes!  
  
'Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!' She prostrated herself before the agent, bowing her head into the rough sand. The agent chewed on his tobacco and ordered :  
  
'I will collect them tomorrow. Make sure you clean them properly, and have them in their best clothes.'  
  
Night fell. Kaa was sleeping soundly. Jyo sat up beside her sister, her violet-blue eyes troubled. She glanced out of the window, at the crescent moon. Tears rolled down Jyo's pale cheeks.  
  
'How can mother be so evil…..' Jyo buried her face in her knees and wept softly. She glanced at the blue and white dress laid out on the long table in their room. She will be wearing that tomorrow to the city, to that wicked courtesan parlor. She heard stories from the old women who worked the fields with them. They were places of sin, where wanton women entertained rich men with wine and their bodies. She did not want to go there, she wanted to stay here, in this village, and….there was… Kai (Sea).  
  
Kai !  
  
Jyo trembled again. Kai will be heartbroken. They planned to marry, he wanted to ask for her this summer, when he returned from the North, and bring her faraway from this wicked home. He would bring Kaa along too, he promised that.  
  
Kai…his bright green eyes, his wonderful smile, his soft hair that looked like a harvest of ripe hazelnut fruit.  
  
She will never see him again!  
  
Another shudder came over Jyo. Burrowing herself into her blanket, she sobbed. 


	2. Chapter 2

-----  
  
'Come along. Up the cart.'   
  
The agent pulled aside the gaudy curtain and directed the two girls into it. Kaa glowered at her mother and the agent, but she climbed into the cart and sat there still like a statue. Jyo wiped tears from her face and tried to look at her mother. The woman glanced somewhere faraway impassively. Jyo strained her eyes, looking at the horizon, hoping to see a dark brown horse gallop down the dirt track, hoping to see frantic green eyes searching for her, hoping that Kai will be here to rescue her.  
  
The sun's rays shone down hard on the track, waves of heat wavering up from the sand.  
  
'You, up the cart quick. I don't have all time, we have to be there by nightfall!' The agent barked. He did not cuff her for disobeying. There was a rule not to damage the merchandise.  
  
Jyo cast one last look at her village, and her mother.   
  
The cart's curtain fell, covering them in half-darkness. The agent shook the reins and the cart tottered down the track, towards the city.  
  
The cart's rhythmic movement made Jyo sleepy. She glanced drowsily at Kaa, who was already sleeping, her head leaning against the wooden board. Jyo pulled aside the curtain, and peeped out. It was twilight. The forest around them looked deeper and darker. Jyo's stomach growled. She was hungry. All she had was the morning meal of plain rice and pickles. She dared not wake Kaa up, nor ask the agent for food.  
  
She had to be strong. She had to survive. For Kai at least.  
  
Jyo let the curtain fall, and retreated to a corner, enduring the hunger pangs, and succumbing to sleep.  
  
'We are here, wake up.' Jyo felt a rough hand pushing her shoulder.  
  
'Gently!' A female voice scolded. 'You will bruise her!'  
  
'I am sorry, Madam.'  
  
'Wake up now, girl.' Jyo's eyes fluttered open. A pale white female face peered at her and a smile spread across the woman's dark red lips.  
  
'She has very nice eyes.' The woman commented. 'Wake up now, Jyo-ha. You are at your new home.'  
  
Jyo struggled to sit up. Her neck muscles felt strained. Kaa! She glances around. Kaa was nowhere to be seen.  
  
'Kaa-ha needed to use the bathroom. She went inside real quickly with some of my girls.' The woman chuckled. Jyo looked at her suspiciously. Kaa will never trust strangers so easily, even if she needed the bathroom badly.  
  
'Girls?' The woman called. A few maids came out and helped Jyo out from the cart. 'Bring Jyo-ha into the inner rooms and have her take a hot bath and dress her.'  
  
'Yes Madam.' The maids bowed. 'Lady Jyo-ha, this way.'  
  
Jyo let herself to lead away, rather bewildered. They called her a lady? What kind of courtesan parlor was this. A hot bath? A new dress? As she was escorted through the doors, some bits of talk floated into her ears.  
  
'Very nice girls, Ouu. Here is your payment. The younger one you called Jyo-ha. She will fetch a high price.' The woman laughed beneath her fan, her wine-red eyes gleaming. 'Hair the color of pale sky, and blue-violet eyes. A definite charmer.'  
  
'Lady Jyo-ha, your dress.'  
  
The maid tightened the blue silk sash around Jyo's slim waist and brought her towards a polished silver mirror. A silver mirror! Jyo gasped. She had never seen such a thing like this. Everything around her was so luxurious, so dreamy. Only if Kai was here, everything will be perfect. She glanced at her dress, soft white gauzy material covering a inner gown of light blue silk, embroidered with silver birds and flowers. The maid styled her hair and attached silver hairpieces and fresh white narcissus to it. They made her sit down before a small mirror, and painted her face, reddened her lips and cheeks.  
  
'Ahh, you look beautiful!'  
  
'Madam!' The maids bowed and retreated, leaving Jyo sitting alone at the table. Jyo turned around and for once, looked at the woman properly.  
  
She was tall and lithe, with a head of bright copper-red hair, the ends dashing down to her knees. A beauty tattoo of royal blue was marked on her forehead. She carried a blue fan, and she herself was dressed in rich reds and purples. Her wine-red eyes examined Jyo carefully.  
  
'You are Jyo-ha?'  
  
'Yes Madam.' She heard them call her Madam. Not knowing, she would just follow.  
  
'I am Gin-yuu (Silver Moon). The owner of Gin-Yuu-Ka (Silver Moon Parlor). You will be one of my children now, Jyo-ha.'  
  
'Children?' Jyo stood up, not understanding. She blurted out. 'But I am sold to a courtesan parlor! I am a …a …'  
  
'A prostitute?' Gin-yuu supplied and laughed merrily. Her eyes narrowed slowly, and she spoke, her voice having a strange effect on Jyo's mind. Jyo reeled a little, feeling the hypnotic voice sweep into her ears. 'No, Jyo-ha. From now on, you are a haa-nyo, a flower lady, of Ginyuuka. You will work for me, your mother. And do what I tell you, like how your good sister is doing now……'  
  
Jyo's eyes blinked slowly. Ginyuu moved closer to her and caressed her cheek. Something was floating around the room, a scent, like sandalwood, but the maids did not burn any scent, Jyo's mind recalled hazily. The smell was pleasant, very pleasant.  
  
Jyo's head nodded slowly. The scent permeated into her nostrils, into her brain. It was a very, very soothing feeling. Ginyuu took her arm.  
  
'Come, Jyo-ha. There are people I like you to meet….'  
  
'Fifty gold taels for Jyo-ha!'   
  
A burly man yelled, thumping his hairy fist onto the mahogany table.   
  
'One hundred!'  
  
Another yelled.  
  
The burly man stood up and flashed a glare at the one who bided higher than him. It was a pale-faced man wearing rich dark green garments.  
  
'You deflowered her sister, you greedy son of a dog. And you still want some more?'  
  
'The one with the highest bid wins, don't you know that?' The other man spat into the burly one's face. 'Kaa-ha was an interesting experience, worth my seven hundred taels. I am sure her sister will be better!'  
  
The burly man shook his fist at the pale-faced man.  
  
'Well, well' Ginyuu walked towards the two angry men. 'The highest bid wins, my lords. Jyo-ha will be worth your money.'  
  
Ginyuu batted her eyelashes and sauntered off to her seat besides the screen where Jyo-ha was sitting behind. The girl sat still, hypnotized by Ginyuu's magic, totally oblivious to the shouts and rants of the bidders.  
  
'Three hundred gold taels for Jyo-ha!' The burly one shouted. The pale-faced man bided a hundred taels more. Ginyuu smirked. These animals, she laughed merrily in her mind, fatten her pockets.  
  
Jyo looked in front of her, stone-still, captured in Ginyuu's magic. Ginyuu let the men see her for an instance, and their animal instincts were fired. She was a beautiful thing to them, soft blue hair floating around like a nimbus, large blue-violet eyes that hold so much delicateness, like a frail angel, waiting for them to save her.   
  
The bidding continued, higher and higher. Ginyuu's smile grew wider and wider.  
  
Suddenly, a young page boy walked up to Ginyuu and whispered into her ear. Ginyuu's face broke into an ugly grin, which was quickly wiped off.  
  
'Well, gentlemen. Bidding stops for now. Someone has already bought Jyo-ha.'  
  
The maids filed in and escorted Jyo-ha away. Dissatisfied shouts and yells came from the floor. Ginyuu shrugged her shoulders indifferently.  
  
'You know the rules, gentlemen. How about other ladies? Clapping her hands, a group of young women strolled in. But the dissatisfaction was still there. Ginyuu did not want any disruption to her business. She sighed, well this was only a measly amount compared to the money she will be earning from Jyo-ha's first night. 'Wine be on me tonight, gentlemen, drink your fill!'  
  
For now, the men were satiated. 


	3. Chapter 3

Jyo-ha was being lead to a dark room. The maids sat her down onto the bed.  
  
Whispers and giggles wafted across the room.  
  
'I wonder which old man would it be…..'  
  
'Maybe Master Buu rou. I heard he likes thin, white girls like her.'  
  
'Poor thing….'  
  
'Out all of you!' Ginyuu walked in, someone besides her.  
  
'Yes Madam!' The maids scrambled out hastily, forgetting to look at the shadowy being besides her.  
  
'Now Sir, here is your haa-nyo. Enjoy.' Ginyuu chuckled. A pleasant sandalwood scent floated into the room.   
  
The man's face broke into a grin. An animalistic grin.   
  
'Don't break her bones, Sir.' Ginyuu bantered and strolled out of the room. She closed the doors, looking the darkened bedroom with a laugh. Swinging her hips, she moved back to her own chambers, preparing to count that twenty chests of taels given to her as payment.  
  
'Jyo….'  
  
'Jyo……..' A soft caress fluttered across her cheek. Jyo smiled.   
  
'Kai……..' A gentle kiss answered her call.  
  
'Jyo……let me please…..' A rough hand slowly loosened her sash.  
  
'Kai……..we will be married first…Kai….' Jyo murmured in protest. Kai's hand continued to explore. Jyo's eyes flared open. She sat up and scrambled away to a corner, tying back her sash furiously.  
  
'No, Kai, don't!'  
  
Kai looked at her, with saddened green eyes.  
  
'I will be going to the North tomorrow, Jyo. It will only be this time, Jyo, we will be together. Jyo, I love you. Please, Jyo, let me.'  
  
Jyo stared back at him and shook her head stubbornly.  
  
'No, Kai, we will be married first. Kai, I love you too, but we will be married first.' Jyo emphasized.  
  
Kai got up slowly, looking at her. He pushed a strand of brown hair from his face.  
  
'I love you, Jyo.'  
  
'I love you too, Kai.'  
  
Kai turned his back to her and walked out of the barn.  
  
'Jyo-ha………' The man nuzzled the girl's neck slowly, pushing aside the top of her dress. In the dark, the man pushed Jyo onto the bed, pulling at the ribbons that held her dress together, kissing her hair and her closed eyes.  
  
'Jyo-ha….kiss me back.' The man ordered roughly, pulling her dress off from her shoulders. Jyo's eyes flew open and she leaned up, kissing the man mechanically. The man laughed and undressed her unceremoniously. He kissed her all over, licking his way around her collarbone and pale white shoulders, burying his head in her length of soft blue hair. He kissed down to her breast and laid his head on it, listening for a while, the quick beating of her heart.  
  
'You are such a beautiful thing, Jyo-ha….You are worth the money.' The man whispered roughly, fondling her. He stripped himself and looked at Jyo, her naked body sliced by strips of white moonlight, her features shadowed. Throwing himself down onto her, he kissed her lips violently, forcing his tongue into her mouth.  
  
'Sweet….' He chuckled, pulling away. 'The woman I was going to marry, she would be as sweet as you are. She has blue hair too, Jyo-ha. But she refused me, that bitch. She's just a peasant….. how dare she think she is some highborn lady.'  
  
The man traced one callused finger down Jyo's heaving chest. 'Now, that I am rich, I can have any woman I want….. And tonight, I have the most sought after courtesan in all of the capital. You will please me, won't you, Jyo-ha….'  
  
Jyo's head nodded automatically. She sat up and begin to pleasure the man, her shadowed eyes staring straight ahead. The man sighed under her touch, his hands gripped her white shoulders tightly, his fingernails biting into her flesh.  
  
'You….you are good for a beginner.' The man gritted his teeth, feeling his breath quicken. Jyo continued her movements unconsciously. The smell of sandalwood grew stronger. A thin sheen of sweat broke over Jyo's body.  
  
The man pushed her down and ravished her fiercely. Jyo's body quivered in response. But her eyes stared straight ahead, her mind suffocated by the sweet scent.   
  
'Kai, where are you going?'  
  
Jyo stood up, and walked towards him, tying back her sash. Kai's back was still turned from her.  
  
'I am going to pack. I am leaving tomorrow morning.'  
  
'Kai, will you come back for me?'  
  
Jyo looked at the young man with hopeful blue-violet eyes. Kai turned around. Suddenly his gaze looked so cold, his green eyes looked like hard rocks, hard green rocks.  
  
'I will, Jyo.'   
  
Somehow, those words did not comfort Jyo. She looked in his green eyes…. She hoped to see something….  
  
She looked into green eyes, open wide in the joy of ecstasy.  
  
'Ahhhh…..Jyo-haa !' The man screamed, collapsing atop of her. The scent was gone in a flash. Jyo felt a stabbing pain between her thighs and something soft sliding out of her, leaving a wet trail.   
  
She gasped, as the pain shot up her body. The man was like deadweight atop of her, crushing her chest. Wind blew in, cooling her sweaty body. She was naked, she realized in horror. The moonlight shifted, shining atop a tussled head of brown.  
  
A sense of dread smothered Jyo's senses. Ignoring the pain, she moved the man away from her, letting him lie on the bed. The man was panting heavily, a satisfied smile on his face, his eyes closed. Clutching the bed covers to her, Jyo touched the man's cheek with a trembling hand. The man's eyes opened at her touch.  
  
'You are wonderful…Jyo-ha…' Green eyes looked at her. Green eyes. The man ran his finger down her forearm. He was unable to see her face, for her features were shadowed in the moonlight. The man sat up, brushing the plastered strands of hair from his forehead.  
  
'Now, I will look at you properly, and perhaps we can have some more fun…' The man laughed and gripped her shoulders, moving her towards the moonlight.  
  
A heart wrenching ache stabbed Jyo. Moonlight fell down on her features, on her disarrayed hair, on his green eyes.   
  
The man's hands dropped from her shoulders, a frightened look covering his face.  
  
'Jyo…' He swallowed hoarsely, moving to the end of the bed.  
  
'Kai…Kai…' Hot tears welled up in Jyo's eyes. 'Kai….' She lunged forwards clutching at him. 'Kai, bring me away, Kai, please, bring me away…..'  
  
Kai looked at the girl before him in horror. Of all women, Jyo! The irony screamed at him. His fingers gripped at the bedsheets. Jyo grabbed his hands, sobbing.  
  
'Kai, Kai, bring me away. Take me away. Please….'  
  
She looked up into his face. He was deathly pale, he was shocked beyond comparison.  
  
'Get away from me!' He screamed, pushing her away roughly. He leapt away from the bed and dressed himself quickly.  
  
'You are a courtesan, a cheap woman. Don't expect me to bring some prostitute back! I don't even know how many men have enjoyed you!'  
  
His green eyes grew stone-cold, and he spat at her. It was a blatant lie. He knew he took her, he was the first.  
  
Jyo looked at him, tears trickling down her cheeks. Kai flung the doors open and fled.  
  
Kai never returned to Ginyuuka. But he was seen at other courtesan parlors. 


	4. Chapter 4

Years passed. Jyo and her sister became well known courtesans of the capital. Kaa seemed to meld into the job, accepting her fate, and even enjoying it. Jyo suffered even though the smile was upon her face, she could not forget that very night Kai forsook her. Every night, the man who she pleasured, she would think of green eyes and that wonderful smile, that old Kai who loved her. But that Kai will never return, unlike the men who returned for her every night, they who loved her frail white body, and none ever wondered beyond that smile, was that vast pain that broke her heart.  
  
'Fifteen disciples.'  
  
'Fifteen?'  
  
Tai Jyou Rou Kun looked at the white bearded man. 'That many?' He yawned and covered his mouth with his sleeve. 'I am so sleepy. And disciples are so tiresome. They disturb my sleep….'  
  
Yawning, the green-haired immortal dozed off.  
  
'Where are you going to look for them?' Tsuu Ten Kyo Shu asked.  
  
Genshitenson looked at his fellow immortals and chuckled.  
  
'There'  
  
He pointed down towards the mortal realm.  
  
Jyo woke up to birdcalls. It was winter, she remembered. There cannot be any bird around. Pushing aside the curtain, she stared out at the snowy garden. It was still dark, the sun had not rose yet.  
  
Five years she had stayed in Ginyuuka. Five years since the night Kai left her and fled. Five years given to entertaining beasts and animals. Jyo looked down at her hands. They were no longer rough and callused from peasant work. Life in Ginyuuka had made them soft and supple. She pressed her hands to her face slowly, feeling the coldness of her fingertips move into her cheeks.  
  
Something amidst the snow moved. Jyo blinked and leaned out of the window. The cold air bit her flesh. Something rose upwards and moved towards her.  
  
It was an old man sitting atop a white creature.  
  
'You are Jyo?'  
  
The old man looked at her, his white beard and hair floating in the wind. The white creature looked at her with round luminous green eyes.   
  
Jyo nodded mutely. She wondered what was this strange scene before her.  
  
'Do you want to become an immortal?'  
  
Jyo's thoughts froze. What was this old man talking about?   
  
'Do you want to become my disciple, Jyo?'  
  
'What are you talking about, old one?' Jyo exclaimed, clutching at the window sill. 'Please go away, the guards will capture you. Madam does not like intruders!' 'My name is Genshitenson.' The old man said solemnly. 'I am from the Konron Mountains, to the north. I am seeking disciples. You are one of the fifteen I seek, Jyo.'  
  
Konron. She heard stories about there. About immortals with strange powers and things they call pao-pei, which could do wonders and great destruction.  
  
But why her? A lowly courtesan…..  
  
'Why do you seek me?' She asked, her voice soft, for fear of the guards.  
  
'Because Fate decrees so, and because you are born to become an immortal, Jyo. Will you become my disciple?'  
  
Powers.   
  
The thought erupted in Jyo's mind. Powers to find Kai, powers to save her sister, powers to stop Ginyuu from harming more innocent maidens.  
  
'I will.' Jyo agreed, her voice trembling.  
  
'Very well.' The old man replied. His wizened hand rose and touched her upon her forehead.   
  
A soothing feeling trickled down Jyo's body. She felt something changing, her body felt lighter, her mind expanded like in a burst of golden nimbus. Her hair no longer tickled her calfs. She felt it tickle her neck softly.  
  
'You shall be known as Fugen. The bringer of Universal Compassion.'  
  
Jyo looked at herself.  
  
Herself….no more.  
  
She was changed.  
  
She became a man. 


	5. Chapter 5

Unable to contain her surprise, Jyo screamed. Her eyes traveled down her body, and they grew wider and more frantic. The night dress suddenly seemed looser. She clutched at the window sill, her hands shaking.  
  
'It is all part of the plan, Jyo.'  
  
The old man's voice floated up behind her. Jyo was too shocked, she did not hear the old man's whisper. It was only after she heard the clutter of feet and drawing of swords, than she realized the guards were roused.   
  
The old man!  
  
Jyo turned towards the window. The old man looked at her solemnly, his eyes vanishing into the heavy white eyebrows.   
  
'All part of the plan, Jyo. Twenty-nine days from I will find my last disciple in the plains, you will come to Kon-Ron Mountain and climb it after twenty-nine days. I will be waiting for you at the summit, Jyo.' 'What is going on in there!?' Guards knocked on her door roughly.  
  
Jyo dared not speak immediately. She felt her throat, and squeezed it tightly.   
  
'Nothing…Nothing ! I just had a bad dream. Go away! I am going to sleep. Now go!'  
  
She squeezed her throat again, feeling something bob against her palm.   
  
'All part of the plan, Jyo.'  
  
This was the third time the old man spoke of the plan. Jyo's mind finally registered. She waited till the guards left, and turned to the window again.  
  
'What.. What plan?'  
  
The old man chuckled and stroked the silvery hair of the hovering creature slowly.  
  
'I should start calling you Fugen now, Jyo. The plan? You will know of the plan once you ascend Kon-Ron Mountain and become an immortal, Fugen. You will have to leave this place and reach Kon Ron on the twenty ninth day, Fugen. If you miss the date, you will return back to your old life.'  
  
'I will change back?' Jyo asked instantly, her hands clenching. Her hands were still slim and dainty, but the roughness was apparent. Jyo continued, looking at the old man in the dawing sunlight. 'To a girl again?'  
  
'To a female again, and be in this place forever, Fugen. Do you want that?' A man. Powers. A chance to find Kai. A chance to stop Ginyuu. A chance to save Kaa.  
  
A woman. Powerless. And nothing.   
  
But how can she face Kai as a man?  
  
Jyo fought the dilemma in her mind. The old man did not make any sound. Somehow he knew she was caught in this quandary. Genshitenson waited. The dawn came almost too slowly, as if too waiting for Jyo's decision.  
  
'Will I have powers to change back?'  
  
Jyo looked up slowly, the wind blowing past her short cropped hair. Genshitenson looked at her in the eye.  
  
'You will be able to attain that power, Fugen. But then.' Genshitenson murmured. 'You might not want to return to being a female again.'  
  
'I will want to become a female again.' Jyo insisted, her voice suddenly heated. 'I will become your disciple and part of the plan, you keep talking about. And I will attain the powers to change myself back to a female.' Jyo's head bowed and she fell into a whisper to herself. 'I cannot let Kai see me like this….'  
  
Genshitenson's eyebrow arched slowly as he heard her murmur. A ghost of a smile appeared on his lips. The creature glanced up at the old man.  
  
'Goshujin-sama. It is time to go back-su.'  
  
The old man nodded in reply. The creature bowed its head and hovered upwards. The sudden rush of air against her face jerked Jyo out of her reverie.  
  
'Wait!' She cried, leaning out of the window. 'You made me a man, what am I supposed to do now? I cannot face people like this?'  
  
The creature stopped in mid-air. Genshitenson glanced down at Jyo.   
  
'Goshujin-sama, you are not thinking of…?'  
  
'I will give him a simple pao-pei for now, Su-pu. By twenty-nine days, he will be able to withstand the doushi training I have in mind for all of my fifteen disciples.'  
  
'I understand-su, Goshujin-sama.'  
  
'Fugen.' The old man took out a shimmering ring from his sleeve. 'This is a mikagami-yubiwa, a pao-pei made of water. It can do simple illusions. Now, you will have to learn on your own how to use this. Genshitenson tossed the ring down. Jyo caught in between her cupped palms. The ring was very heavy. Her muscles shuddered to bear the weight of the ornament.  
  
'Why is it so heavy?' Jyo looked up at Genshitenson, beads of sweat forming on her forehead. She could not even hold it with one hand. Jyo's arms trembled. It was too heavy, she have to set it down somewhere.   
  
'You are not even a doushi yet, Fugen.' The old man chuckled. 'You will have to learn to use it, if you want to keep your identity hidden.'  
  
'I can't even hold it up!' Jyo cried. She set the ring upon the window, half-thinking that the stone underneath the ring will crack. As if guessing Jyo's thoughts, Genshitenson laughed.  
  
'This pao-pei will only react to living things, Fugen. Figure out how to use it. You have a certain intelligence in these things, Fugen. That is why I chose you.'  
  
Jyo looked the ring dubiously. Swallowing hard, she picked it up again, with both hands. It was as hard as trying to heave a stone block. She pushed the ring onto her middle finger. The excruciating pain nearly blinded her and she tottered backwards, feeling as if her finger was going to be torn off at any moment. Biting her lower lip fiercely to bear the throbbing protest in her muscles, Jyo pulled herself up and faced the old man hovering outside the window, her face set in a white mask of resolution.  
  
Genshintenson nodded. 'Farewell, Fugen. Till twenty-nine days later.'  
  
Jyo followed the old man's departure with glazed eyes. Her look turned back down upon the dull stone ring on her finger. Somehow, somewhat, for these twenty-nine days, she will have pretend to be a female. 


	6. Chapter 6

It was not as hard as she thought. The abilities of the ring were quickly unlocked by Jyo by the third day. She pleaded sickness and kept herself in her room for those days, struggling through each night and day to learn the use of the ring. Ginyuu was alarmed by her star ha-nyo's illness, and ordered the maids to bring her tonics and boiled bird nest. Jyo threw those out of the window. Grass strangely sprouted from where the tonics seeped into the ground, despite it being early winter.  
  
Satisfied with the illusion of her old self, Jyo finally stepped out of her room. Ginyuu was so relieved that her golden goose was going to lay eggs again, that she gave permission to Jyo's request that of returning to the countryside to visit her mother. Of course, with guards accompanying her. Ginyuu did not want her goose's wing clips to loosen. However, Ginyuu was rather suspicious why Jyoha would suddenly ask to return to visit her mother. She knew the greedy woman sold the two sisters without even blinking an eye. Yet, Ginyuu sensed something strange going on with Jyoha. Before the day of the trip, she instructed the guards to keep a careful watch on the girl. On the day of her intended escape, a storm was brewing. Flakes of white snow fell heavily from the sky, covering the whole court with a thick blanket of glowing white. Jyo opened the windows of her room for the last time, and stared out into the snowy courtyard. Five years and today, she might be free. She did not tell Kaa of her plan. Her sister was intoxicated with the life of the courtesan at Ginyuuka. The riches and the jewels she received from fawning customers, the clothes, the luxuries, totally changed the once proud and upright Kaa. She was not Kaa anymore, she was a lady of the courtesan court.   
  
A tear slipped down Jyo's cheek. Somehow, deep in her suddenly chilled heart, someone told her she would never have the power to bring back Kaa to what she formerly was. Jyo's fingers wound around the stone ring, bringing the stone to her cheek to warm it. She will not wait the rest of the days here and be in fear of her illusion unraveled. She would flee, and use the illusions to cover her tracks. She would stay away from the city until the twenty nine days were reached, and she would head towards Konron Mountains to find that old man. Closing her eyes, Jyo breathed a soft prayer to the drifting snow, hoping like the blanket they cover the earth, she too will be protected and concealed.  
  
She would say goodbye to Kaa first.  
  
Kaa was not too happy that Jyo wanted to go back. She flung her wine cup onto the carpet and stared at her sister vehemently.  
  
'A visit? Are you out of your mind?' Kaa strided to face Jyo, her finely-drawn eyebrows meeting in a dark thin line. 'That woman disowned us, sold us here. And you want to visit her?'  
  
Jyo chewed her lower lip sadly. She could not tell Kaa of her real purpose of going. Let Kaa think it that way than. And Kaa was furious.   
  
'I know what is going on your mind, Jyo.' Kaa griped her sister by the shoulder. 'You want to find Kai, don't you.'  
  
Jyo shook her head violently. 'No, I don't want to find Kai.'  
  
Kaa's grasp on Jyo's shoulder relaxed slightly. Suddenly, her elder sister's face looked tired and worn. The painted mask seemed to crack, a stream of sadness seeping out.  
  
'Jyo, don't leave me..don't leave me here.' Kaa's voice dropped down into a hoarse whisper. Her fattened fingers clutched at Jyo's hands. Kaa's eyes widened.  
  
'What is this?' She stared at the stone ring on her sister's left hand. Kaa glanced at her sister. Jyo shifted nervously. Kaa's eyes narrowed.  
  
'Take it off, Jyo.' Kaa ordered, her grasp tightening around her sister's wrist. 'Take that ring off. And you are going to tell me where you've gotten such an ugly ring.' 'It was a gift, from..from…'  
  
Five years, and she was still bad at lying.  
  
'You better tell me what that is, Jyoha. Or else I will report to Ginyuu. That you are wearing something weird.'  
  
Blood rushed from Jyo's head. She could not take off the ring. Her illusion will be discovered. She stepped back, shaking her head. An ugly grin danced on Kaa's lips.   
  
'Kaa!' Jyo clasped her hands together tightly, her face turning a ghostly white. Her sister wrenched Jyo's wrist away and tried to pull the ring out. The ring slipped off from Jyo's finger.  
  
'Kaa, don't!'   
  
Kaa screamed as her muscles strained to hold the pao-pei. Her strength vanished and the ring fell onto her body, tearing a hole right through her stomach. The stench of half-digested food and acid saturated the air. Jyo retched, tottering back. Kaa laid bloodied on the ground, the ring unscathed amidst blood and torn flesh. Kaa's painted face was twisted in agony. Her sister's fingers twitched, gripping at the carpet.  
  
'Jyo…Jyo…save me….' Kaa groaned, trying to sit up. Blood gushed from the hold in her stomach, staining the red carpet a even deeper red. Blood crept like Death to Jyo's shoes, reddening the tips of the silk toes. The stench grew stronger.  
  
Jyo could only stare on, stunned. She killed Kaa.  
  
I killed Kaa.  
  
The three words reverberated in her ears. It was the only thing she heard. Kaa's painful groans withered away, her bloodied fingers slackened and stilled.   
  
Kaa….  
  
Jyo moaned and collapsed onto the ground. Blood stained her skirts. Between sobs, she stared at the comatose body of her sister, the ugly wound, the gore and the stone ring, itself still clean and dull, resting in the middle of the torn abdomen.  
  
The clutter of guards' boots awoke her. In a flash, Jyo stood and snatched the ring up, soiling her fingers with blood and gore. The male body she had now gave her more strength and she was able to drag her sister's plump body away into the inner chamber. Pushing the stone ring back onto her finger, she willed the illusion of Kaa to weave down her frame. And herself. Looking around wildly, she picked up an apple and wove the illusion of herself around it. She had just enough time to send the double back to her room.  
  
The blood.  
  
She would have to explain for the blood.  
  
Mechanically, she overturned the table and broke the vases, scattering the bits over the carpet. Picking up a small fruit knife, Jyo inflicted deep cuts onto her arms and grabbed a bit of broken porcelain, scratching more cuts onto herself. She sprawled onto the bloodied carpet and closed her eyes.  
  
The court guards burst into the room.  
  
'Lady Kaaha is injured! Call the court physician!'  
  
Ginyuu hurriedly came in.  
  
'Kaaha, what happened to you?' Like an anxious mother-hen, Ginyuu wiped at the girl's cheek with her handkerchief. Jyo tried to croak out something.  
  
'After Jyo left, someone came here…and tried to kill me!' Jyo coughed loudly to cover the tremble in her voice. Fear stomped through her heart, for Ginyuu's magic might reveal her thoughts. She could see that gleaming look in Ginyuu's eyes whenever she started to use her magic.  
  
But somehow, the sweet smell of sandalwood did not wind itself around her. The stench of stale blood pricked at her nostrils. Ginyuu's eyes stopped glittering, and she stood up. Maids filed in to help Jyo to the bed while the old doctor cleansed her wounds, and bandaged her.  
  
All the while, Ginyuu stood there and observed the ongoings silently. Jyo's heart thumped. She could feel herself breaking out in cold sweat. She will have to escape by tonight. Ginyuu will never let her go now.  
  
She was never good at lying, but it looked to her, Ginyuu had been fooled. 


	7. Chapter 7

The blessed night came quickly. Jyo flung away the blankets and dressed quickly. It was cold, the cold bit into her bones. And she shivered with the cold and the fear in her heart. She had to get to Konron-san in two days, or else, what the old man promised will never come true.  
  
Slipping her hooded cloak around her, Jyo headed for her door. The material rubbed against her fresh wounds and she winced, trying to smother the sound in her throat. She pushed at her door.  
  
Locked  
  
The doors were locked.  
  
Jyo wanted to scream in frustration. Only the sudden clang of the guards' pikes outside the windows stopped her. She wetted her little finger, poked a hole in the thin paper covering of the door and peered out cautiously. The door was locked with a large iron padlock on the outside.   
  
Ginyuu knew. A dreadful ache welled up in Jyo's gut. She had to get out, by all means. Can the ring do something? Jyo decided to try. There was nothing to lose. Wrenching the ring from her finger, she willed it to loosen the padlock, unlock it, melt it, anything.  
  
thud  
  
The padlock broke into two, landing on the carpet outside the door with a soft sound.   
  
*-*  
  
"Welcome…" The old man greeted him personally at the gates. "I see you have finally made it here, Fugen."  
  
He stood in front of the great emerald gates, feeling lost and small. The wind churned around him, warming his bare shoulders. Around the large mountain orbited rocks of various sizes. On them, he could make out tiny figures moving and flying from one to another. The wind took the chance to whip his hair against his nape, tickling it.  
  
"Come." The old man turned and lead the way into the inner hall. "This is the Gyokukyokyu, the audience hall where I meet with all my disciples." The old man stepped up on a low platform and looked out to the swirling blues of the skies outside, his back turned to Fugen.  
  
"Genshitenson-sama…."  
  
The old man interrupted him.  
  
"I know you have many questions, Fugen. They will be answered in time. But first, you will have to earn your place among the twelve sennins of Konron. I have eleven and one disciples. You will become the twelfth once you have passed my tests."  
  
Eleven and one? Eleven and one made twelve. Fugen was puzzled. What was the old man talking about? He opened his mouth, wanting to clear his confusion.  
  
"Genshitenson-sama. Taikoubou is here."  
  
The old man turned towards the entrance. He gave a discreet nod at the bowed figure in the shadowed entrance of the hall.  
  
"Enter." The old man ordered. A young man walked into the soft light of the hall. He was not too tall, just barely an inch shorter than Fugen. His brown hair was tousled by the wind, his clothing yellow and blue. The youth immediately knelt down in front of the old man. Fugen did not move, his attention caught by this young man called Taikoubou.   
  
"Genshitenson-sama."  
  
"Ah, Gyokutei Shinjin." The old man nodded again at another figure that appeared. "Come in."  
  
An older man walked in, his long dark hair swaying slightly behind his back, his white boots making a sharp noise on the polished floor of the hall. Fugen's curious gaze switched from Taikoubou to this newcomer.  
  
Gyokutei Shinjin bowed.   
  
"I am to sorry to bother you in the midst of this…" Gyokutei murmured. He glanced sideways at the lithe blue-haired figure standing awkwardly at the side. "But Taikoubou kun refuses to learn swordplay. I have no choice but to come to you in this."  
  
Gyokutei's head bowed low, strands of dark hair slipping down his armored shoulders. A frown appeared on Genshitenson's face.   
  
"What is the meaning of this, Taikoubou?"  
  
The young man kept silent.  
  
Genshitenson questioned again, his tone demanding. Finally, a sulky answer came from the young man.  
  
"I hate violence."  
  
Genshitenson mused, staring at Taikoubou for a moment. Fugen was taken aback by this person's rather curt reply. Taikoubou stared back insolently at Genshintenson, casting a challenging look at the old man. He could almost hear a audible sigh escaping from Gyokutei Shinjin's lips.  
  
"You may leave first, Gyokutei Shinjin. I will see to this matter myself." Genshitenson paused, stroking his beard slowly. The older man nodded, and bowed. Before he left, the shinjin glanced again at Fugen. It sent a shiver down Fugen's spine, and it was not pleasant.  
  
"So, you dislike violence?" Genshitenson turned his attention back to Taikoubou. "I will set you to memorize three hundred scriptures on compassion and peace, and I will test you two days from now on what you have learnt, Taikoubou. Are you happy with that?"   
  
Taikoubou gritted his teeth and nodded.  
  
"You may leave."  
  
Taikoubou stood up with a defiant air and bowed stiffly. He turned and prepared to walk out. Fugen's eyes followed him too closely and he noticed. Swiftly, Taikoubou's glance fell on Fugen….  
  
Fugen started.  
  
A familiar pain clutched at his stomach. Green eyes were staring at him. Green eyes…  
  
Green eyes…  
  
Kai …. 


	8. Chapter 8 (The Begining of the End)

Fugen lay awake in his bed. It was a cold night and he did not close the windows. The wind blew in, fluttering the silk curtains. He pulled the blankets to his chin and closed his eyes, trying to sleep. But when he closed them, those eyes returned again, drifting into his mind and they beckoned at him and they smiled. They smiled.  
  
A tear welled up in Fugen's eye. A sob gripped his throat and he held the ends of the blankets to his mouth, biting down on the material. The old hurt which he tried so long, so hard to smother, returned to stab new blades into his heart. Tears soaked the blankets and the sleeves of his nightgarment.   
  
In Jyo's heart, she still loved Kai. And she prayed hard that one day, Kai will return for her, bring her away. Far away…  
  
But Jyo was dead now.  
  
In Fugen's heart, there will be no such person as Kai.  
  
Shuddering, Fugen wrapped the blankets tightly around himself, and curled into a ball, squeezing his eyes shut. His former plans for power to save Kai and Kaa were no more. They vanished in a flash of resignation, as quick as a gust of wind snuffing out a candle flame.   
  
+++ 


End file.
